Another blaster-like gets widespread, and destroys the machines in question. Wipe the HD, wipe the BIOS if possible. Wipe all files on all network drives with write access. Wipe everything. Write nasty letter to boss. Play fart sounds, change wallpaper to tubgirl.
THIS would wake people up. Not the fact that the ADSL light blinks a bit and the machine feels a bit slower.
If there are hundreds of millions of Windoze boxes out there, and 9 out of 10 Winblows machines I've looked into have at least SOME malware, rootkit or virus... then the number is way low.
When I see a new PC and look at the user for 3 seconds... if only I could ask 2 questions and then bet money on whether the machine in question has any malware - I'd be rich.
Yea corporate networks are better - if the corporation is big. Most small businesses have owned or infected boxes.
Do not clean up these boxes. Disconnect them from net and tell the relative in question to either PAY for the cleanup, get someone else to clean it, or get a Mac.
It works as well as it does because it stays off the radar.
The quality of Soulseek has already dropped - way too much leechers with SLOW outgoing connections and very little to share. It used to be different as little as 6 months ago.
Still, it's the best way to get those rare genres. For example, no place to get good psytrance in Finland anymore (in fact not much new good psytrance in existence;-) but that's another story.)
Opera has years worth of headstart and is really usable on series 60 phones... haven't tried if it has FTP.
All series 60 phones I've seen already have IMAP client. Not decent, but usable;-)
This is how Finland joined the EU, btw.
There was a public poll. EU got "no."
Mass media started a propaganda run.
Another. EU got "no"
Mass media strengthened its propaganda.
Another poll. EU got slight "yes" (like 51%)
That's when the national poll for EU membership took place.
Democracy, as it is today, is a fucking joke.
How in the fucks sake does a country remove itself from EU? No-one has ever dones it... dunno how it can be done. Reminds me of Soviet Union. It was in their constitution that a "sovereign nation state" like Estonia could have removed itself from Soviet Union at any time... but in practice that was bullshit.
It would be like granting anyone interested the right to buttrape the user (hereafter THE LICENSEE) with a cactus.
It would be 725 pages long to cover every possible scenario.
It would not be legally binding anywhere except maybe in USA. In Finland, at least, EULAs and other forms of shrink-wrap-licenses are ballast. They are not legally binding as they are not contracts.
Easy way to control damage in these cases (without actually rewiring anything) is to use a separate subnet for laptops.
Just make different IP pools at DHCP server for desktops and laptops, or something.
Then use as a default route some central point with firewall or filter that handles both sides as hostile, preferably add snort or some other IDS as well.
It's not idiot-proof since the compromised laptop is in the same physical LAN with the desktop machines but you can detect fuckups almost immediately.
my iexplore.exe was basically
system(cmd);
compiled with cygwin with cmd containing firefox + all args passed...
this is no catch-all since most IE-vulnerable software just uses the DLL's but it WILL, when inserted in, say, logon bat for a domain, prevent fucking up the system just because the latest Windows Update decided to add those IE and Outlook icons on the desktop AGAIN.
The fonts were too small. Changed them to 'Large' (M$ default). Windoze told me to restart, since such a drastic measure as changing font size clearly requires a reboot.
Still too small... used custom. Big mistake! 155% font size out the Win2000Pro into endless bluescreen loop. Three hours later I simply backed up all data (using cygwin and tar, since I don't trust M$'s backup) and reinstalled the whole crapola.
Why not just install debian? Simple, this was my gaming box. Nothing important on it. Games and photos.
It's a good thing that not all games rely on the godforsaken Registry(tm). Upon reinstalling, Windoze did these increcible things:
-rearranged all joystick ID's, made me reconfigure all games.
-Rearranged some controllers' button ID's. Making the reconfiguring of all games even harder.
"Honestly, VMWare is the best way to use Windows:-)"
You could not be more right. I have been advocating VMware before, but for a reason.
I have set up 98SE, 2000Pro, XP environments (clean) under VMware and can easily create a 'clean' environment to test stuff. The snapshot feature is excellent, just snapshot the VM in question and if/when the software fucks up, restore.
The virtual hardware is the same every time. No driver issues. In fact, the current desktop PC's are so fast that it would make sense to run Winblows in them exclusively under VMware.. just store the user dirs on server. Get a new PC? Just copy the virtual disks and configuration.
I've been using VMware since its introduction and am currently using the 4 (and 5beta) versions for desktop use. I've had no use for the expensive server version yet since most of the servers are already running Linux.. but for those legacy Win32 apps VMware is really a blessing. Even been testing BSD's and SuSE distros with it.
"However the paper admits that the only way to be sure that you have killed a kernel rootkit is to completely erase an infected hard drive and reinstall the operating system from scratch."
How exactly does this differ from the standard thri-monthly Winblows "maintenance"?
VMware offers (in version 5 multi-level) snapshot of the entire machine. VMware has had undoable virtual disks for ages.
VMware also now offers possibility to create easy-to-install complete virtual environments.. for clients etc.. in installer form. Check it out.
I run Windows at work exclusively under VMware. It's faster to run sandboxed Windows in virtual machine than it is to run it natively with all the resource-hodging kludgework (anti-virus, anti-spyware etc) on top.
Other plusses of VMware include, but are not limited to:
-Easier backups (just copy the VM partition files somewhere)
-Easier deployment and testing (keep a 'clean' Win2K / WinXP image, clone it).
The server version is kinda expensive, and requires blessed hardware, but the workstation version is a bargain.
Problem is, if you use ANY legacy apps you probably need to have write access to system directories etc... and windows runas is a hassle. That's why most end up running Windoze with admin rights.
Hell, the whole process of tuning permissions is so obfuscated in Windows that no Joe Average can do it even if he wanted to.
Whereas on Unix it's very easy to elevate user privileges when necessary. Windows simply was not designed that way - its rotten roots are all too obvious still.
I had this great idea of getting rid of the buggy and crappy SMBFS and the not-quite-mature CIFS and use a Windoze box as a proxy:
-mount the shares on the wintendo box
-then share them with NFS.
Turns out, like in most things M$, that you cannot re-share a share that is visible on your Win box. Why? Because it would make SFU actually useful. Plus there was no real easy way to map UnixWinblows permissions and user ID's.
Another set of below-the-par M$ tools with unintuitive Win32 GUI on top. Looks good on paper I'm sure.
Slashdot Mirror
Another blaster-like gets widespread, and destroys the machines in question. Wipe the HD, wipe the BIOS if possible. Wipe all files on all network drives with write access. Wipe everything. Write nasty letter to boss. Play fart sounds, change wallpaper to tubgirl.
THIS would wake people up. Not the fact that the ADSL light blinks a bit and the machine feels a bit slower.
When I see a new PC and look at the user for 3 seconds... if only I could ask 2 questions and then bet money on whether the machine in question has any malware - I'd be rich.
Yea corporate networks are better - if the corporation is big. Most small businesses have owned or infected boxes.
Bad PR but who the fuck cares.
tihihi I said boxen.
It was a tradeoff. 2038 is far ahead still! A lot could happen before it that makes another counter overflow the least of our worries.
First january 2001 at 01:01 EET ... man was I drunk.
Way bigger than some y2k.
No javascript, no ECMAscript - just jscript.
Millipede was a Centipede clone. With bugs.
It works as well as it does because it stays off the radar.
The quality of Soulseek has already dropped - way too much leechers with SLOW outgoing connections and very little to share. It used to be different as little as 6 months ago.
Still, it's the best way to get those rare genres. For example, no place to get good psytrance in Finland anymore (in fact not much new good psytrance in existence ;-) but that's another story.)
Opera has years worth of headstart and is really usable on series 60 phones... haven't tried if it has FTP. All series 60 phones I've seen already have IMAP client. Not decent, but usable ;-)
Get real. Windows game market is SMALL compared to consoles. Linux game market is 1% of that. It's emu or nothing - deal with it.
No, I have not noticed a decrease. I constantly train the bugger.
This is how Finland joined the EU, btw. There was a public poll. EU got "no." Mass media started a propaganda run. Another. EU got "no" Mass media strengthened its propaganda. Another poll. EU got slight "yes" (like 51%) That's when the national poll for EU membership took place. Democracy, as it is today, is a fucking joke. How in the fucks sake does a country remove itself from EU? No-one has ever dones it... dunno how it can be done. Reminds me of Soviet Union. It was in their constitution that a "sovereign nation state" like Estonia could have removed itself from Soviet Union at any time... but in practice that was bullshit.
I wish they paid even a buck an hour that's wasted reinstalling their crap. They'd go bankrupt.
It would be 725 pages long to cover every possible scenario.
It would not be legally binding anywhere except maybe in USA. In Finland, at least, EULAs and other forms of shrink-wrap-licenses are ballast. They are not legally binding as they are not contracts.
Just make different IP pools at DHCP server for desktops and laptops, or something.
Then use as a default route some central point with firewall or filter that handles both sides as hostile, preferably add snort or some other IDS as well.
It's not idiot-proof since the compromised laptop is in the same physical LAN with the desktop machines but you can detect fuckups almost immediately.
system(cmd);
compiled with cygwin with cmd containing firefox + all args passed...
this is no catch-all since most IE-vulnerable software just uses the DLL's but it WILL, when inserted in, say, logon bat for a domain, prevent fucking up the system just because the latest Windows Update decided to add those IE and Outlook icons on the desktop AGAIN.
I had an incredible thing happen to me.
Upped desktop res to 1600x1200. Fine.
The fonts were too small. Changed them to 'Large' (M$ default). Windoze told me to restart, since such a drastic measure as changing font size clearly requires a reboot.
Still too small... used custom. Big mistake! 155% font size out the Win2000Pro into endless bluescreen loop. Three hours later I simply backed up all data (using cygwin and tar, since I don't trust M$'s backup) and reinstalled the whole crapola.
Why not just install debian? Simple, this was my gaming box. Nothing important on it. Games and photos.
It's a good thing that not all games rely on the godforsaken Registry(tm). Upon reinstalling, Windoze did these increcible things:
-rearranged all joystick ID's, made me reconfigure all games.
-Rearranged some controllers' button ID's. Making the reconfiguring of all games even harder.
Seriously. Windows 2000 PROFESSIONAL my ass.
I have set up 98SE, 2000Pro, XP environments (clean) under VMware and can easily create a 'clean' environment to test stuff. The snapshot feature is excellent, just snapshot the VM in question and if/when the software fucks up, restore.
The virtual hardware is the same every time. No driver issues. In fact, the current desktop PC's are so fast that it would make sense to run Winblows in them exclusively under VMware.. just store the user dirs on server. Get a new PC? Just copy the virtual disks and configuration.
I've been using VMware since its introduction and am currently using the 4 (and 5beta) versions for desktop use. I've had no use for the expensive server version yet since most of the servers are already running Linux.. but for those legacy Win32 apps VMware is really a blessing. Even been testing BSD's and SuSE distros with it.
"However the paper admits that the only way to be sure that you have killed a kernel rootkit is to completely erase an infected hard drive and reinstall the operating system from scratch."
How exactly does this differ from the standard thri-monthly Winblows "maintenance"?
The hottest game of late does run on Mac. Dunno about Mac Mini, probably needs mem upgrade.
Like windowsupdate, the check makes it impossible to dload, say, MDAC components with anything but IE.
VMware also now offers possibility to create easy-to-install complete virtual environments.. for clients etc.. in installer form. Check it out.
I run Windows at work exclusively under VMware. It's faster to run sandboxed Windows in virtual machine than it is to run it natively with all the resource-hodging kludgework (anti-virus, anti-spyware etc) on top.
Other plusses of VMware include, but are not limited to:
-Easier backups (just copy the VM partition files somewhere)
-Easier deployment and testing (keep a 'clean' Win2K / WinXP image, clone it).
The server version is kinda expensive, and requires blessed hardware, but the workstation version is a bargain.
Hell, the whole process of tuning permissions is so obfuscated in Windows that no Joe Average can do it even if he wanted to.
Whereas on Unix it's very easy to elevate user privileges when necessary. Windows simply was not designed that way - its rotten roots are all too obvious still.
Turns out, like in most things M$, that you cannot re-share a share that is visible on your Win box. Why? Because it would make SFU actually useful. Plus there was no real easy way to map UnixWinblows permissions and user ID's.
Another set of below-the-par M$ tools with unintuitive Win32 GUI on top. Looks good on paper I'm sure.